LEADING AS THE STRETCH DRIVE BEGINS.

At the All-Star break, the Milwaukee Brewers were leading the division, although by a slim margin.  "It's another of those seasons when the Central Division teams seem bent on playing for leaster, with the Cardinals' pitching looking sketchy at the beginning of the season, the favored Cubs unable to close out games, and the young Pirates and Reds still developing."

The Brewers just finished up their longest home stand of the season, Reds in for three, Dodgers for four, Cleveland for three, and now comes a road trip with the first three in St. Louis.

After losing manager Craig Counsell to the rival Chicago Cubs and trading 2021 Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles, the Brewers have withstood numerous injuries to build the largest division lead of any team.

Milwaukee has won five straight and leads the NL Central by 11 games over the St. Louis Cardinals, who host the Brewers in a three-game series beginning Tuesday. Manager Pat Murphy says the Brewers are still “in the middle of a fight.”

“If you go back to your corner and look over and look at the scorecard, that doesn’t help you, you know what I mean?” Murphy said. “Go to the corner and put your head down. You know what’s going on. You know if you’re taking on water, pressure or whatever. You know the situation. You don’t need to look over your shoulder and wonder, ‘How many games?’

“You just need to stay the course. You need to stay in the ring, get some water, wait for the bell, go out there and try to win a decision every round you can.”

You have to play the game, and it sometimes helps to field players with the proverbial chips on their shoulders.

Colin Rea was pitching in Japan in 2022 after going 8-8 with a 4.90 ERA from 2015-21. He’s 17-10 with a 3.67 ERA for Milwaukee the last two seasons. Tobias Myers, in his sixth organization, has a 6-5 record and 2.81 ERA as a 26-year-old rookie.

The Brewers’ knack for getting pitchers back on track was evident Sunday as Rea, Bryan Hudson and Jared Koenig combined on a two-hitter in a 2-0 victory over Cleveland. The Dodgers designated Hudson for assignment in the offseason. The 30-year-old Koenig spent last season in the minors.

“That’s what this whole thing’s about,” Murphy said. “You’re thinking of a small-market team, you’re thinking of guys that have all been thrown away, guys who’ve been told, ‘You’re not good enough.’ That’s pleasurable, to see these guys then find an identity or find a way to be successful. It’s a beautiful thing.”

There's still, as the announcers say, a lot of baseball to be played.  There is Sprecher in the cooler for the good times, or the bad.